Rocket Singh: Sales Man of the Year

Review:

Rocket Sing: Salesman of the year is a fresh, unexpected film than the usual bollywood escapades which showcases a sincere and honest protagonist which seems like zero to his magnificently corrupt boss. Though boss isnt the real villain in the movie but Business is, as it is portrayed as fundamentally dishonest act, fueled by bribes and payoffs.

Ranbir Kapoor plays a cheerful underachiever Harpreet Singh Bedi, who barely graduated for college. With such low scores he naturally decides to take up a job as a salesman with high esteem and expectation since he believes he has the right stuff to make it big. He is quickly hired as a trainee at the computer sales and service firm, AYS (At Your Service). As his initial days are pumped up and exciting in the office and field because the senior Nitin gives him pros and cons of business and trains him, he immediately falls in trouble when he blows the whistle as a client offers him a bribe and becomes everybody's target and gets humiliated.

Harpreet decides to prove them wrong and starts his own shadow company from inside the company and gathers together a crew of misfits. They aim to

play the game with new rules and to win. In fact, the movies best moments involve Harpreet interacting with his co-conspirators: the unchallenged computer tech who spends his days looking at bikini-clad women on the Internet, the pretty receptionist whos only valued for her looks, the disrespected office tea server. Like Harpreet, they all represent ways in which modern corporate culture devalues individuals. How he goes about proving his worth as a salesman cum businessman & teaching his superiors a thing or two about doing business keeping their ethics intact constitutes the rest of the movie.

The biggest strength of the movie lies in its screenplay. Its taut and focused for the most of the movie's running length except the unwanted love story segment which is forced in the movie. The dialogues are witty and idealistic and yet not preachy but feels real like real conversation between real people. They never feel unnaturally forced and the actor deliver them with utter conviction. The production design is realistic and as simple as it could be has only helped the movie to create a credible rapport with the audience creating unpretentious aura about the movie.

The characters seem authentic because they look & act like actual human beings. No over-the-top shenanigans or preachy monologues for these guys. Not all of them have their moral compass pointing in the right direction at all times but they do make the most of situations presented to them by life, learn their lessons & keep moving ahead, isnt that how most people are?

The movie is finely etched with realist performance by its actors. Where

usually actors tend to get overboard in Indian movies which is not in this case, actors of Rocket Singh should get kudos. Ranbir Kapoor as Harpreet Singh Bedi breaths a life in his character and this is by far his most nuanced performance. He displays such a heartfelt earnestness that you'd root for him instantly and which is really necessary for this kind of movie where the script is character driven. However, the real standout in performance department is Naveen Kaushik as Nitin who convinces us from the word go that he's the real deal, a ruthless salesman with year of experience under his belt who'd sell ice to an Eskimo with alarming ease. Gauhar Khan, who is debutante, doesn't let us feel its her first movie and carries her character with such ease and alarming performance. D Santosh as the technician, Mukesh Bhatt as the peon and the guy who plays the owner the AYS, are all more than believable in their roles. Special mention should also go Prem Chopra who's impressive (hasn't done a movie since ages) in a small role as Harpreet's honest grandfather. The love interest played by Shazahn Padamsee in her debut feature doesn't get much scope and doesn't measure up to the other performances in the movie and one of the very few flaws of the movie.

This is an admirably written and more than competently acted movie filled with enough humor, drama and a restrained morality lesson to make you still believe that there's still enough talent in Indian Movie Industry to surprise the socks off you when you least expect it.

Additional Information:

Director Writer Movie Budget Release date Competitor Movie

: : : : :

Shimit Amin Jaydeep Shahani. Approx. 5 crore INR 11 December 2009 Paa released on 4th Dec. a week before Rocket Singh released. 3 Idiots relesed on 25th Dec. two weeks after the release of Rocket Singh. (though Rocket Singh was solo release that week it had found a solid competitor with Paa and 3 Idiots being released before and after Rocket sing released respectively.)

Actors

Ranbir Kapoor, Gauhar Khan, Shazahn Padamsee, Prem Chopra, Manish Chaudhary, D Santosh, Naveen Kaushik.

Main theme:

Revolving around a simple guy, who is happy-go-lucky and a bit of an underachiever, this movie shows different facets of business and its stake holders. What this movie tries to prove is that how corrupt has become the ethics of the business in todays world and how it drags a simple and honest person into its own web.

Conclusion:

The movie has a very decent message that business can be done with ethics and honesty kept in the place but at the same time it doesnt go overbroad and be preachy. As it is told in the movie that honesty and simplicity are the jewel of the persons character the movie itself is simple and honest.

My opinion:

This is a very well made movie and I wont change a thing about this movie. But if I have to tweak something then I would remove the romantic track of the movie or flesh it out little more because the romantic track only comes as a irritating part of the movie and only hindrances the flow of the script but otherwise the movie is unlike any other bollywood movie and a welcome surprise.

Thank You...

Rocket Sing: Sales Man of the Year

Submitted By Sandeep Shrestha Bim Orchid International College Sinamangal, Ktm.